Maori law intersects with a variety of practice areas and you will examine 4 of them with a panel of subject matter experts. Understand the current marine and coastal area (Takutai Moana) regime including proposed amendments. Gain updates on Tikanga in the common law through examination of recent cases. Receive practical guidelines for appearing in the Waitangi Tribunal and the Maori Land Court and examine the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act and updates on Māori land cases and governance matters.

Presenters

Renika Siciliano, Executive Director, McCaw Lewis
Renika leads the firm's exceptional and passionate lawyers in the Te Tiriti o Waitangi and workplace law areas. Renika provides legal and strategic advice to clients across Aotearoa and has extensive experience in matters relating to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Treaty settlement negotiations, Māori governance and iwi disputes. She also has a wealth of knowledge in workplace law, advising on various employment matters for both employers and employees. Renika has experience across various Courts and forums including representing Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki in relation to the Supreme Court’s landmark decision Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki Tribal Trust v Minister of Conservation. She has worked with clients in some of the first substantive matters to be heard under the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act.


Karen Feint KC, Thorndon Chambers
Karen is a highly experienced advocate who takes a principled but pragmatic approach to securing the right outcome for her clients. She has a wide-ranging civil litigation and public law practice, with particular expertise at the interface of Crown and Māori relations - constitutional law, judicial review, equity, indigenous rights, and Treaty of Waitangi law. Karen has appeared as counsel before all levels of the New Zealand courts and in specialist jurisdictions such as the Waitangi Tribunal. Karen was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 2019. She has been a barrister at Thorndon Chambers for over ten years, having previously worked at two national law firms. She has a BA/ LLB (First Class Honours) from the University of Otago, and a LLM from the University of Toronto, Canada.


Roimata Smail, Barrister, Roimata Sail Ltd
Roimata Smail (Ngāti Maniapoto, Tainui, Ngāti Kotimana, Ngāti Ingarangi) has worked for two decades as a human rights and public law barrister specialising in discrimination against Māori. She has represented iwi, hapū, whānau, urban Māori organisations and Māori owned and governed health and social service providers in the Courts and Waitangi Tribunal. She has also advised on settlement negotiations with the Crown involving the return of ancestral land and acting in litigation and negotiations with the Crown under the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 and the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011. Roimata is also a Treaty educator who has developed experiential workshops on Te Tiriti and the Wai Ako educational website for schools. This year she published a best selling book "Understanding Te Tiriti A Handbook of Basic Facts about Te Tiriti o Waitangi".


Christopher Finlayson KC, Bankside Chambers
Christopher Finlayson was born and educated in Wellington. After graduating with a BA in Latin and a LLM from Victoria University, he practised law in Wellington as a solicitor before going to the Bar in 2002. He was elected to Parliament in 2005 and became Attorney-General and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations in 2008. Mr Finlayson held those positions until October 2017. Mr Finlayson is a foundation author of McGechan on Procedure, the leading text on the practice and procedure of the Senior Courts of New Zealand. In 2018 he received a grant from the New Zealand Law Foundation to complete a book on the Crown Māori relationship, and he has also written a book on his time in Parliament with particular emphasis on his time as Attorney-General, published in 2022. In 2013 he represented New Zealand in the International Court of Justice in a case where Australia sued Japan seeking to stop commercial whaling in the Southern Oceans. New Zealand intervened and Mr Finlayson led the case for New Zealand. In 2020 he received an honorary LLD from Victoria University for his work as Treaty Minister.


Danny Tuato’o, Managing Director, Mwis Lawyers
Danny (Ngāpuhi) was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in 2005. In addition to his legal expertise, Danny has significant leadership experience as a business owner in New Zealand, a director in the public and private sectors, and a senior manager in law and education. As an expert in Trust and Māori Land Law he is regularly engaged as a facilitator for the Māori Land Court. Danny is a member of the boards of Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Maritime New Zealand and was appointed to the Airways SOE Board in July 2023. He was also a panel member on the Air Navigation System Review commissioned by the Ministry of Transport, which concluded in May 2023. Proficient in te reo Māori, Danny also volunteers for the Coastguard New Zealand Board, Whangarei Girls High School Board of Trustees and is actively involved in Kiwi recovery and pest control projects in Northland.